By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
Editor’s note: Apologies for the delay – I was on holiday in India. However, I couldn’t do justice to Shortcut to the Top without covering this episode of Shotgun.
I have often spoken about the quality of some of the match ups you get on a weekly Shotgun, whilst the platform is also effectively used to promote some of the fringe wrestlers within the promotion. This second episode since the summer break was all about the stars as Ilja Dragunov was in action, alongside a big triple threat contest playing off of the Shortcut to the Top wXw Tag Team Title match. However, the biggest news was a huge match between Pete Dunne and WALTER as Dunne made his return to the promotion for the first time since his war of words with the promotion saw him booked opposite Dragunov at the Wembley PROGRESS show.
Unsurprisingly, the main event is a hard hitting fight between two men at the height of their game. Following some early grappling on the canvas which sees both men avoid submission attempts, the crowd began to go crazy in a manner I’ve not seen from a Shotgun crowd this year. Dunne would be the first man to hit a chop, though would duck out under the ropes to avoid any backlash. This only annoyed the big Austrian as a test of strength saw him not only win, but stomp on Dunne’s throat for good measure! After a European uppercut almost lifted Dunne out of his boots, a tour of the ring with forearm blows across Dunne’s chest for the crowd to see leads to a block and a finger snap. A big boot from WALTER seemed to keep him in control, especially once it was followed up by a back suplex on the apron, but Dunne would then catch a chop attempt, stamp on the arm and then aim four PKs in a row to WALTER’s chest whilst he stood at ringside.
Dunne’s offense continued to work the arm with joint manipulation and kicks, but a Tiger Mask flip only saw him land into a John Woo dropkick. This allowed WALTER to pile on the pressure with a German suplex and powerbomb for two, before turning the pin into a Boston crab and an STF. A second powerbomb attempt was reversed into a DDT, allowing a flurry of offense from Dunne as a step up kick, Shiranui and top rope foot stomp combined for a two count. Dunne would end up spending too much time taunting, leading to a Gojira clutch that the Bruiserweight tried to break with a bite, only to almost get decapitated with a lariat! The ref would be knocked over twice, the second time allowing Dunne to launch himself into a triangle and guillotine choke, though a butterfly suplex would break the hold. The first WALTER chop of the match almost scored the win, but after a succession of reversals, Dunne would flip backwards in the Gojira clutch to pin WALTER for three.
After the match, Dunne and WALTER would shake hands, only for Dunne to attack his opponent some more. This prompted the arrival of Ilja Dragunov, though their brawl was brief as three men jumped Dragunov, allowing Dunne to escape. WALTER and Dragunov would eventually fight off their attackers, closing the episode with a show of respect for each other.
Following an opening segment that saw Juvenile X offer his services to Absolute Andy, Ilja Dragunov’s promo in which he called out Andy for going missing whenever it comes time to fight saw ‘The Veteraan’ hit the ring to argue with the wXw Unified Champion. Andy claimed that Dragunov went missing for months, before the title was effectively donated to him at 16 Carat Gold. Dragunov made it clear that he only needed one chance, whilst Andy dubbed himself the ‘evolution of virile history’, a moniker that gave him the right to tell Dragunov to go home to look after his wife and children as he didn’t belong in the ring. After Dragunov made it clear he did this all for the wXw family as well as his own family, Andy would attack the champion before he could finish his ‘UNBESIEGBAR’ taunt. A brawl would break out that eventually saw Dragunov take an F5 into the ringpost before Andy rammed him three more times into the steel. Taking this opportunity to utilise X’s services, Andy would call him down for a match with an injured Dragunov.
The match unsurprisingly saw X target the back of Dragunov, using European uppercuts that worked on the back and neck as well as shoulder charges in the corner. A backbreaker after a whip to the corner scored a two count, as well as a back suplex after Dragunov missed a leaping kick to the head. A basement dropkick to the back, power drive elbow and rear chinlock seemed to have X in control, but Dragunov no-sold a second power drive elbow (this time aimed at the back) before firing back with a back body drop as X came out of the corner after an Irish whip. Slaps, knees, four lariats including a discus lariat led to a top rope senton and a Torpedo Moscow for a Dragunov victory.
With the wXw World Tag Team Titles due to be defended in an elimination Tables match at Shortcut to the Top, each team put forward a member for a triple threat match on Shotgun: Jay Skillet versus Pete Bouncer versus Avalanche. Skillet would try and avoid confrontation initially, though Julian Nero and Ivan Kiev managed to block off his escape before Bouncer and Avalanche brought him into the ring the hard way. Their desire to beat up Skillet would lead to both men fighting and allow Skillet an opportunity to take out Bouncer with a low dropkick and a sliding knee to the face. However, a dropkick and crossbody from the top saw Skillet just bounce off of Avalanche, though Skillet rolled away as Avalanche looked to set up for the cannonball. As Avalanche looked to be in control following a slam on Bouncer and a shoulderblock on Skillet, Bouncer scored a two count with a reverse DDT on the tag champion. Skillet also had his chance to shine, wiping out Bouncer with a step up enziguri that utilised Avalanche’s back, whilst a cutter moments later on the RISE leader scored him a two count. It was Avalanche that seemed to be closing in on the win after a Skillet-dropkick-assisted Samoan drop on Bouncer and a cannonball/Vader splash combination on Skillet, but Bouncer threw Avalanche out of the ring and stole the victory.
Post-match, Kiev, Nero, Avalanche and Bouncer would all attempt to put Skillet through a table, but as an argument threatened to broke out, Skillet slammed Nero off the top rope and through the wood before escaping. This was touched upon in an interview with Skillet after the contest; Skillet and Francis Kaspin will win the titles as the stipulation allows for Monster Consulting to cost themselves the gold potentially.
Bouncer may have been victorious in the ring, but things weren’t going so well outside of the ring. After Lucky Kid congratulated Marius Al-Ani for earning a shot at Bobby Gunns’ Shotgun Title, Kid would get in Bouncer’s face about the RISE leader’s constant desire to run down Tarkan Aslan for what have only ever been mistakes. Kid even goes as far as to claim that Bouncer is as likely to be to blame for the fallings out in recent months as John Klinger was, before storming out of the room.
In a few other segments of the show, Bobby Gunns would promise to still be standing with the gold at the end of his match with Marius Al-Ani during his Smoking Break, making him tap out to a hammerlock, a wristlock, it didn’t matter what, whilst Mille McKenzie would be introduced to the German audience with an in-ring interview. Unfortunately for her, this was interrupted by a returning Alpha Female, who dumped the teenage Brit with a dominator. A match between the two would be the feature bout of the Shotgun following Shortcut to the Top.
This was a perfect way of heading into Shortcut to the Top, as we get heated interaction between Ilja Dragunov and Absolute Andy, whilst also seeing that Monster Consulting could be vulnerable as wXw Tag Team Champions. With all of this, and a main event of WALTER versus Pete Dunne that delivered a very good match, this show was a strong effort from top to bottom.
